Roller-carriage for printing-presses and the like



E. P. JENNINGS.

ROLLER CARRIAGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27. 1919. 1,355,979, Patented Oct- 19, 1920.

2 SHEEN-SHEET l.

E. P. JENNINGS.

ROLLER CARRIAGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, 27,19I9.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

RQ 3% W W m m a lll'l' Ill-I' UNITED,I-STATESI PATENT. OFFICE.

EMERSONP.13ENN1N'GS, or LEH'IGHT'ON, rENNsYLvA IA.

ROLLER-CARRIAGE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES"AND THE Application filed0ctober '27, 1919. Serial No. 333,613.

To aZZ whom it may concern: 1 1

Be it known that'I, EMERSON PuJEN- mes, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lehighton, in the county of Carbon and State of Pennsylvanim'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Carriages for Printing-Presses and the like, of which the following is a specifi-- cation, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. 2 1

This invention relates to roller carriages for printing presses and the like.

In printing presses of certain kinds the inking rollers revolve about the form bed and inking drum. In order that the rollers may accommodate themselves to the varying radii of the form bed and inklng drum, they are yieldably mounted in a revolving car riage. Presses of this type are frequently operated a very high speed and the rollers are subgected to a very considerable cen trifugal action, which tends to move them out of contact with the drum and the form bed. To overcome this centrifugal action. strong springs are used, but in the type of. carriage heretofore employed, the space was solimited that the springs were "necessarily" short and stiff and, consequently, they would frequently crystallize and break, thus necessitating the shutting downfof the press until new springs could .be installed. One object of the invention is to provide;

a roller carriage of sucha" character/that there-will be little tendency on the the springsto crystallize and break. v v

Further objects of theinvention are to provide for a roller .carriagewhich' will be simple in construction and operation; which will be of light weight; and which can be applied to the press withlittle or no modification thereof;

Other objects of the invention will appear as the mechanism is described in detail.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side ele'va'tiom partly 1n section, of a portion ofa printingpress, showing my invention applied'thereto; Flg. 2 1s a transverse sectional VlBW of such a press'taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Figs. 3 and F 4: are detail views of one of the bearings on the carrier. I V

In these drawings I have shown the invention as applied to a flat bed and platen press comprising a normally stationary part of specification of Letters Patent. 'Patented Oct 19,

platen 1, and .a form bed 2, mounted for reciprocatory movement in a right line forward and from the platen. Associated with the form bed and traveling therewith is an inking ground 3, which'ispreferably rigidly secured to the form bed. The inking drum is provided with axial trunnions 4B, which are m'ounted in slide blocks 5, which in turn are'slidably mounted in guideways 6 in the side members 7 of the main frame. Reciprocatory movement is imparted to the combined form and inking drum by means of pitmen 8 which connect the trunnions of the a drum .with a. crank wheel or gear 9 which, in the present construction, is driven from .a pinion 10 on the shaft 11 of a belt wheel or pulley 12. The particular construction of the press, otherthan the move-" merit of the combined form bed and inking drum, does not enter into the present in vention and need not here be described in detail, as it is a well-known construction is of such a character that it will not interfere with the revolution of the inking rollers about the drum: and the form. I In order that the inking rollers may follow the contour of the combined formbed and inking drum and may be held in contact therewith at all pointsof their travel over the same,

I have mounted the rollers upon: a supporting structure which has radial movement relatively to the drum and upon which the rollers are mountedfor movement relatively 7 one to the other and to the drum. In this manner .I avoid the necessity of employing separate springs for the several rollersfand I am enabled to use relatively long, flexible springs which, while having ample strength to resist thecentrifugal action of the rollers and their carriage, are sufiiciently flexi-- ble to permit the'roller's to accommodate themselves to the contour of the combined drum and form bed. In the present con struction I have mounted at each end of the drum a carrier which is rotatable about the axis of the drum, and which is here'shown in the form of a plate 13 having a bearing portion 14:, which is journaled on an enlarged portion 15 of the trunnion 4:, be-

tween the slide block and the ends of the,

present construction the carrier plate 13 is provided at each corner with an outwardly extending portion, which is bent upon itself to form a bearing or. slideway 18, the bear ings being arranged in pairs, and the bearings of each pair being arranged in alinement one with the other so that the two pairs of bearings constitute the two guidd ways on the opposite sides of the carriage. The supporting structure may take various forms, but that here shown comprises two rods, or bars, 19, slidably mounted in the respective guideways of the carrier, and connected at their-outer ends by means of a cross bar 20, which maybe rigidly secured to the ends of the rods 19 in any suitable manner. Springs are applied to the supporting structure, or frame, to move the same toward the axis of the drum, and as here shown, relatively long springs 21 are coiled about the rods 19 of each supporting structure, and are confined between the bearings 18, adjacent to the outer end of the supporting structure, and stops, or collars,

22, rigidly secured to the rods. Preferably,

these collars are secured to the rods by means of set screws 23, so that they may be adjusted thereon to regulate the tension of the springs.

The several lnking rollers are so mounted upon the, two supporting structures that they will move therewith as the supporting structure moves radially or circumferentially, of thedrum, and will also have movement" relatively one'to the other, and relativ'ely to the supporting structures. To this end the rollers are preferably carried by members which are movably mounted upon the respective supporting structures, and, as

' here shown, these members are in the form of curved bars, or yokes, 24:, which are pivotally mounted between their ends upon 7 the cross bars 20'of the respective supporting structures, this being accomplished in the present instance by securing the two yokes to a shaft 25, which is journaled in the respective cross bars and extends lengthwise of-the drum. The rollers are mounted at the respective ends of these yokes so that,

as the rollers travel about thedrum and form bed, the yokes will rock to permit the rollers to follow the contour of the drum and form. In the present construction 'I have shown four inking rollers, and have arranged two of these at each end of the yokes 24, and in order that the rollers may better follow the contour of the form" and drum, I have mounted each pair of rollers upon apivoted supporting member, or bar, 26. Each supporting member, 26, is preferably pivotally mounted between its ends on the respective yoke 24, as hereshown, each member, 26, is mounted upon the shaft 27, extending parallel to the shaft 25 and mounted in the ends of the two yokes 24. The two rollers of each pair are .mounted in the end portions of the respective members 26, so that they will have swinging movement about the axis of the shaft 27. thesupportingmembers 26 in any suitable manner, but in the present construction the rollers, which are shown at 28, are provided with trunnions, or wheels 29, which are mounted on the roller shafts 30 and are adapted to travel on tracks 31, which are arranged with the respective ends of thedrum conforming to the contour of the drum and the form bed, and which serve .to support The rollers may be mounted on the rollers in proper contact with the inking drum-and the form, and to'relieve the same ofthe pressure that would'otherwise be exerted thereon by the springs. porting members 26 are bifurcated at their ends to receive the wheels 29, and each arm of the bifurcation is provided with a slot 32,

to receive the shaft 30 of the inkingrollerf I i A pin 33 extends through the two armsof the bifurcation beneath the shaft 30, and serves to retainthe shaft within the slot,

The slip.

or bearing, 32. 1 In the presentconstruction I have also shown the shaft 25 as adjustable in length, and have providedthe same with i a turn buckle 34 for accomplishing this ad: justment. V p

The operation of this device will be read ily understood from the foregoing description,andit willbe apparent that]: have provided a roller carriage in which the rollers will be held in constant engagement with the form and drum, and which is of such construction as to permit the use of long flexible springs which will be subjected to a relatively small amount of movement and will not tend to quickly crystallize andbreak. Further, it will be apparent that I have provided afrollercarriage which is very simple in its construction, and in which the rollers can easily, accommodate themselves to the varying radii of the vform and drum. It will be apparent that, as the carn'age travels about the drum, the several rollers will be held in engagement with the V periphery thereof, as shown in Figfll, until the foremost roller reaches theedgeof theform bed.- Becauseof the manner inwhich the rollers aremounted, this foremost roller can turn from the-periphery ofthe drum onto the form without moving any of the following rollers out of; contact with the drum, and as the carriage continues its the supporting member 26 is arranged slightly off center, and, as here shown, this axis is, in each instance, nearer the inner ends of the supporting members than t is to the outer ends thereof.

While I have shown one embodiment of my invention, 1 wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof, as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in therart.

Having now fully describedmy invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: i I

1. The combination witha form bedand an inking drum, of a single supporting structure mounted at-each end of said drum for rotation about the axis thereof, each supporting structure being capable of inovement transversely to the axis of said drum, two groups of inking rollers mounted on said supporting structures for movement therewith, said groups of rollers being connected one to the other and so mounted on said structures that the two groups of rollers will be movable relatively one to the other and the rollers of each group will be movable relatively one to the other to permit them to accommodate themselves to the different radii of the drum and form bed, and springs to resist the outward movement of said supporting structures.

2. The combination with a form bed and an inking drum, of a carrier rotatable about the axis of said drum at each end thereof, a single supporting structure movably mounted on each carrier, a plurality of groups of rollers mounted on said supporting structures for movement therewith and for movement relatively one to the other, and springs acting on said supporting structures to move said rollers toward the axis of said drum.

3. The combination with a form bed and an inking drum, of a single supporting structure mounted at each end of said drum for rotation about the axis thereof, each supporting structure being capable of movement transversely to the axis of said drum, yokes pivotally supported by the respective supporting structures for movement about a common axis, a group of rollers carried by said yoke on each side of said axis, the rollers of eachgroup being movable relatively drum,x yokes pivotally mounted between their ends on the respective supporting structures, and on a common axis, groups of rollers mounted on said yokes on opposite sidesof said axis, and springs tending to move said yokes toward the axis of said drum. I a

5. The combination with a form bed and an inkingdrum, of a carrier rotatableabout the axis of said drum at each end thereof,ja supportingstructure slidably' mounted on each of said carriers for rotatory movement therewith; for movement transversely, to the axis of said drum, yokes p'ivotally mounted on the respective supporting structures on a common axis, groups of rollers carried by said yokes on the respective sides of saidaxis, the rollers of each group being movable relatively one to the other, and springs acting 'onfsaid supporting structures to move said vyokesjtoward the axis of said drum;

. 6. The combination with' a 'form bed and inking drum, of a carrier rotatable about the axis of said drum at each end thereof,

a supporting structure movably mounted on each carrier for rotatory movement therewith and for radial movement relatively thereto, yokes pivotally mounted between their ends on the respective supporting structures and on a common axis, roller supporting members pivotally mounted oneach yoke on the opposite sides of said axis, rollers mounted on said supporting members at each end thereof, and springs tending to move said yokes toward the axis of said drum.

7. The combination with a form bed and an inking drum, of a carrier rotatable about the axis of said drum at each end thereof and having guideways on the opposite sides of its axis, and a single supporting structure having parts slidably mounted in the guideways of each carrier, springs acting on said structures to move the same transversely to the axis of said drum, yokes pivotally mounted betweentheir ends on the respective supporting structures for movement about a common axis, and rollers supported between said yokes onthe opposite sides of said common axis.

8. The combination with a form bed and inking drum, of a carrier plate rotatable about the of said drum at each end 7 thereof and having guideways at the four ranged in pairs, asupporting frame comprising rods slidably mounted in-the res ective pairsof guideways of said carrier p ate and connected at their outer ends by a transverse bar, a stop secured to each rod of said the axis of said drum and mounted at its ends on the respective supporting structures, yokes mounted on said shaft near the ends thereof, a group of rollers carried by said yokes on each side of said shaft, the rollers of each group being movable relatively one to the other, and springs tending to move said yokes toward the axis of said drum.

10. The combination with a form bed and inking drum, of a carrier rotatable about the axis of said drum at each end thereof, a sup porting structure slidably mounted on each carrier, a shaft extending parallel with the axis of said drum and mounted at its ends it on the respective supporting structures,

yokes mounted on said shaft between their ends and near the respective ends of said shaft, other shafts extending parallel to the first mentioned, shaft and mounted in the ends of'said yoke on the opposite sides of said first mentioned shaft, roller carrying members mounted on said last mentioned shafts near the respective yokes, rollers journaled'in said'roller carrying members, and springs tending to move said yokes toward. the, axis of said drum.

11. The combination with a form bed and an inking drum having trunnions at the opposite ends thereof, of carriers havingbear-i ing portions rotatably mounted on the respective trunnions and having'guideways on the opposite sides of said trunnions, means 7 for rotating said carriers in unison, supporting structures slidably mounted in said guideways of the respective carriers, yokes pijvotally mounted between their ends on the respective supporting structures for movement about a, common axisJapair of rollers mounted between said yokes on each side of the axis thereof, the rollers of each pair being capable of movement relatively the one to the other, and springs tending to move said yokesltoward the' axis of said drum. V I c Intestimony whereof afiix my signature hereto.

1 EMERSONP JENNINGS. 

